A time to share

Thursday, December 20, 2012

A TREAT!

Last Monday I was blessed to be able to work magically with my mentor Steve Dobson. I secured a gig for Weidner Apt. Homes. We performed strolling magic for 2 hours at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant in Bellevue.

I learned a lot from Steve this day!
Plan to arrive about an hour into their function. Not at the beginning. People are meeting and greeting, finding their tables, wanting to schmooze each other when they first arrive. They are not interested in YOU asking them if they want to see a trick!
Also, count the number of tables and chairs. Figure out how many people are going to show up so you can try to plan an amount of time at each table.
Speaking of that, it dawns on me as well something else Steve mentioned... by arriving an hour into the event, people will be seated and most of the tables will be full rather than three at this table five here, and so on. That way you won't be interrupted by new arrivals coming to join a table that you are working and the magical effect broken as people get up to shake hands etc.
Another important thought he shared with me is to choose your first table carefully! I thought it simple to just start at one corner of the room, Steve at the opposite one, and go about it. Well I chose the wrong table and this sets the tone. I had a very tough man that wanted nothing to do with magic, and Steve chose a table by observing all the tables and looking for one where some people are already jovial.
Great Lesson!!!

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Too Intense. Moi? :)

Recently I have been told by several people that I am too intense.
I have been told as well by some people that I have toned down my intensity.
I find this an interesting topic, especially as it is said about me.
I have some thoughts about this, and it will most likely sound as though I am defending myself... and maybe I am! :)
I am intense about politics, religion, magic, abortion, homosexuality, sports, and all manner of things.Oops, almost forgot fishing...
MY GAWD MAN! I HOPE YOU ARE INTENSE ABOUT SOMETHING!
If not, go away...
I find it ironic how someone else gets to label me, or you for that matter.
I mean, what is someone had said about me, dude you are passionate!
A whole different mind picture is painted, isn't it!? :)
I doubt that anyone has ever felt the need to defend their position when someone says you are passionate about something have they? It is now seen as a positive thing!
What if someone says you are anal about something?
My mentor says of himself that he is anal about his magic and the amount of time he spends practicing. He also says he is anal about photography. What do these words mean anyway?
Anal is short for:
Analytical.
Which the dictionary defines as...
1.pertaining to or proceeding by analysis.
2.skilled in or habitually using analysis.
Intense:
1.existing or occurring in a high or extreme degree
2.acute, strong, or vehement, as sensations, feelings, or emotions.
3.of an extreme kind; very great, as in strength, keenness, severity, or the like.
4.having a characteristic quality in a high degree: for example, The intense sunlight was blinding.
5.strenuous or earnest, as activity, exertion, diligence, or thought: an intense life.
Passionate:
1.having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid.
2.easily aroused to or influenced by sexual desire.
3.expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional: passionate language.
4.intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings.
5.easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.
Funny, but all of these words describe me and in some ways I am very glad that I am passionate, intense and anal.

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Home Party!

Saturday Night Magic Show for a home party was a bit different than Friday's show.
Why?
I am not sure, but I never got comfortable in my role as a magician for this group.
I think it stems from the fact that the man that hired me wanted to introduce me as his friend.
I had never met him before. He found me on the internet and hired me to perform for his group over two other magicians.
He is tha manager at a Costco Company around here. He has many employees beneath him.
This was not a business or corporate event as all this was set up at his home by him and his wife.
I arrived about 50 minutes early per our plan to set up etc. Roland wanted me to magically produce and hand out the twelve or so Christmas/bonus gifts.
I had planned to produce them in a dove pan while saying I was going to magically bake a cake. I wanted to have them all in the bottom of the dove pan under the cake, wrapped in zip lock bags of course. When Roland gave me the "cards" I realized they were really long. I asked if I could fold them a bit. He said no, they are all hand made cards. Now I had a dilemma.
His wife said, "oh, just hand them out, they'll all be happy to get them. (She was right of course, maybe because by then most of them had a few drinks in em..)
At any rate, this was the beginning of my frustration.
I was set up and ready to go way ahead of time, the guests began arriving and true to his word, Roland introduced me to his co workers and their guests as his friend Tim.
I waited semi patiently as more people arrived, trying to remember names and find an opportunity to begin performing close up magic.
Roland gave me a nudge and I noticed a nice pool table in the family room with which to use as a close up table.
First I struck up a conversation with a woman and of course she asked me what I do... I told her that I am an entertainer and that is why I am here, I led her to a group of other ladies and did Crazy Man's hand Cuffs for them, it went really well, and I was off and running...
I went to the pool table and removed two decks of playing cards and performed Do As I Do for a woman and others began inching nearer.
I only did a set of three effects after that... Something I call Prestidigitation, followed by Search & Destroy, and then Zingone 12 card mental Problem. This really "slayed" those watching.
The host, Roland asked me if I could do something to embarrass him...
I thought for a minute and decided that I would do Ambitious Card with Card on Forehead, and maybe end that with Card on Ceiling.
I had looked at the ceiling earlier and noticed it was a slanted ceiling.... Hadn't done Card on Ceiling to a slanted Ceiling but felt it possible if I threw the deck at the right angle.
So that is what I did... it all went perfectly, including Card on Fore head which is one I rarely do...(Thank you Steve Dobson for helping me understand and use my tool box!)
Roland just looked at me with a deer in headlights look when the cards came back down from his ceiling. He had not realized that HIS signed card was stuck up there. He was waiting for something, looking at me, Because of the slanted angle of his ceiling the cards came back down with the rubber band still around them, but I missed catching the pack and they exploded when they hit the floor.
I slowly raised my eyes to the ceiling, he didn't understand, I nodded up... up... finally he looked up and began laughing out loud... his wife screamed "is that your card?" Roland could only reply, "It has my name on it." And then , "How the ...? "
This basically concluded my close up time as it was time for everyone to eat.
I was invited to eat as well, and so I did.
After dinner, I performed a stand up show for them.
It went very well too, although I didn't feel I made a connection. After analyzing the show in my mind, I realize that maybe it went much better than I think and that I am mis-reading people a lot. Sometimes as my friend Tom Frank would say, they are just stunned into silence. I think this happens way more than I realize. The audience does not know how to react. They are so amazed, they have never experienced magic sitting this close in someones living room, they had no idea what to expect, what was going to happen... they are lost as to how to react.
Maybe because I didn't open my stand up show with 1 finger clap, instead I opened with Three Signed Cards Rise From a sealed envelope...
Maybe... it was way better than I think.
Dai Vernon said, "how do you go into it, How do you come out of it? When talking about how to share a magic trick. I think this holds true on a larger scale too. Not only each effect, but also for your whole show.

Lots To Learn

This post is out of order sequentially, it was in my saved file and when I hit post, this is where it posted.

I realize it has been months since I last posted here..Well here goes.!I had a wedding show last Saturday.I was told there would be some children there.Was I good with children? I replied that I am good with children.I love children! Ha ha.I got the gig. It was about 40 miles away in Mill Creek. I was hired to do my stand up show while the bride and groom were off getting there pictures taken after being married!A wonderful Idea. I thought I would be able to perform for everyone as they waited about an hour for the bride and groom to arrive.The room set up was horrible. Round tables set about a square dance floor. I was set up in a point of the floor so that a door was at my back for a magical purpose later. I entertained five children with a quick Bird Catcher paddle trick, the children really enjoyed it... shouts of "Do that again!" always let me know it was good!Then I invited them to come sit on the floor about five to ten feet in front of my table.Adults were invited to join and come in for a closer look as well, but none of them moved. I told them it is a great show, I've seen it a hundred times... not much response from them.So I began my show with the one finger clap I do to warm up a crowd. Few joined in but it gave me an idea of who would be willing to join in the magical fun.I noticed a lot of people out in the hallway, I invited them into the room for the show. They were all lined up signing the guest book. After the warm up I launched into the vanishing silks routine, it was good, many gasps. The children wanting to see it again. I moved on to the Chinese sticks. This I hoped was large enough to draw some attention to me from the depths of the room. It had the desired affect, but only for a few people. What was going on? How am I going to reach these people!?I was "miked" up, and still struggling to get to them. I started the Acrobatic Knot routine and lost them. I almost threw in the towel. I actually contemplated saying, "hey, gotta run" and boogeying on outta that place. I didn't need the money that bad...I kept working, obviously struggling. A few adults, about five or six were enjoying the show.. The Cut and Restored Rope/Professors Nightmare got a few interested, by now the children had scattered and returned... I was living in my own nightmare by now...Had someone come up and help with a card trick, Lassoing a Card, it went well, well enough I suppose, the woman was having fun, I brought up another woman to help with the floating Card, Linking Rings was next, still, the crowd was spread out to far, I thought about moving to the center of the dance floor, or at least up about ten feet, but that door behind me was needed for a reveal of the bride in a little while.. Vanishing Bandana, Grand Father's Famous Bag Trick and Cups and Balls.I never finished the Cups and Balls and the Groom arrived in mid Cups... Mid Cups and Balls that is...I was about two minutes from my closing effect being finished, man was I glad to wrap it up, although I had decided to produce large lemons for the first time, never got to them!The groom and I did a nice effect where he wrapped himself up in a nice large cloth, and his new bride appeared in his place. It was pretty good, even though her dress showed beneath the curtain a bit. They enjoyed it and I was free to pack up. I packed up and loaded my car with my stand up show and proceeded to entertain table to table with some close up magic. This went a bit better as I could actually engage some people.I had planned with the bride and groom a special piece of magic which I performed for the, I hope it was enough. This piece went really well and I think they were very happy with it.I hope someone tells them some good things about me as they did not get to see the show.What can I learn from this?I was told by the D.J. that it was not my fault, that parents should control their kids. That "You" did the best you could under the circumstances.Still. I feel it is my responsibility to know what EXACTLY I am getting into and be more prepared. I am going to put together two suit cases of shows. A children's case with things like Magic Coloring Book, Needle Thru Balloon, Learn a decent Sponge Ball routine. Work on getting good at a few Balloon Animals. Not that I want to become a children's magician. But it doesn't hurt to be well rounded.I need to ask more and better questions from potential clients as well. This is something I am generally afraid to do and yet I think it will make me be perceived as a better informed professional. Yes, that makes sense!I recently told an audience that an entertainer is only as good as his audience. Well this was proved again to me at this show. While I take full responsibility for the "lack" in this show because I failed to ask enough questions to ascertain EXACTLY what was wanted of me... the audience needs to become a participant in the festivities as well.A symbiotic relationship must occur between the performer and his audience.A give and take relationship. It is a "Yin& Yang" thing.It didn't happen this time, but when it does, real magic happens.It is a true blessing to everyone when the connection is made and held.

I'm Back

Well Hello!
Ya it's been awhile, not much, how about you?
Actually it has been a very interesting time of late.
Lots of magic, lots of magical growth and well, just growing as a human being at the age of 53..
I know, when did that happen! :)
I had two magic shows over the weekend and they have prompted me to begin thinking about writing here again.
So much Face Book going on and it is really becoming draining...
So here goes.
Friday night I performed my stand up show for a company gathering for their annual get together. The company is called Luton, and the make and distribute light switches and such.
The show was in their offices building in Downtown Seattle.
I arrived early and met my contact. She was a very nice woman named Michelle. We hit it off right away.
She showed me where she wanted me to set up and so I did. It was such a small gathering of people I decided that I didn't need to "mic" myself... that was my first (and only) mistake! My wife joined me on this occasion and it was a good thing as I had lots to carry in.
Michelle had the evening planned and the order of events, but as often happens, the best laid plans of mice and men do not often go according to plan.
The guests were late in arriving and so her plans to feed people before my show were changed, which of course changed my plans. Michelle asked if I could start early? This was not a problem, but it did kind of change the way I was thinking of "going into" my show.
In my mind I had thought that I would be able to warm people up to me with a few minutes of strolling magic. This plan was now changed.
I began to realize that this group was pretty loud and so I hurried to set up my microphone system. Good thing too. I am learning to trust my judgement more as I venture forth magically!
My set list included:
1 finger clap
T. T. Silks
Acrobatic Knot
Cut & Restored Rope with Professors Nightmare ending
Teleportation Device
Lassoing a Card
Vanishing Bandana
Egg Bag
Wellington Switch Board
Linking Rings, and
Cups & Balls
This is the order that eventually happened.
I had a really tough time figuring out my order of effects.
As I practiced my show...
I tried the cups and balls in an earlier position, but found that it cluttered my table for anything after.
I had thought that Teleportation Device would be my closer, but it turned out to be fine right there at the end of the opening set or so...
Also, I had originally place the Linking Rings before the Wellington Switch Board, but forgot the Rings until I had already done the Switch Board and noticed them resting up against my buskers pouch for the Cups and Balls.
In my mind I made a quick decision, should I do the rings or skip em?
I decided to go with it and perform the Linking Ring routine right before the cups and balls. I had always assumed this was not a good place for them, But I think now it was pretty good.
All ent well and I met some really great people!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Magic For the Chamber

Last Friday I was contracted to perform an hour of my stand up show for the Maple Valley Chamber of Commerce's annual Presidents Dinner and Auction... whew, that was a mouthful.I was informed it was a black tie event, but who knows what that means nowadays?I secured this gig back on about January 12th... just so happens that The Boeing Company I work for and our union bribed us employees with a $5000 incentive to take a contract offer a year early. I didn't get to vote on the contract as I am a "Beck Objector" which simply means I do not want any of my union dues money to be used by "my" union for political stuff. They always give money and endorse the Democrats which is the opposite party I favor mostly.Anyway, that was a long winded wind up to mention that I used the bribe money to purchase new clothes which I mentioned in an earlier post... see "The Emperor's New Clothes (Stylin')"It is partly because of picking up this gig that I went all out and up graded my wardrobe... I am glad I did. What a difference dressing up can make in the way you carry yourself!Not only the way you view yourself, but also the way others view you. Get on an airplane in shabby looking jeans and a dirty Tee shirt, or wear a decent suit, see which way gets you the better treatment. Right or wrong it is what it is.I sent out emails to magicians I know asking for advice on a set list. I gave them options and a list of many of the effects I do. I got back four different avenues or order of effects if you will that they thought might make a good show. Both of the magicians that responded have seen video of my show so they know my character and performing persona.It was really fun and eye opening to read their thoughts. I went thru their set lists and actually practiced my effects in the order that they suggested. This was very enlightening for me. I noticed some things about why I perform them in the order I do, and why that is a good order. (For me)Logistics, and timing and other factors.I think one of the most important aspects I learned is that is is extremely important to do material you are familiar with and like to do. Also doing them in an order that is comfortable for yourself.This creates a relaxed-ness for yourself that makes your show much smoother and thereby creates a confidence that shows in your demeanor when you perform. Since I don't perform as often as I would like, most of these 'shows' are major events for me and I stress over them. Stress is a killer to a performer. So being familiar and comfortable with yourself, your work and your eventual show pays huge dividends and translates outward to your audience.They may not "know" you are scared spit less, but they can "FEEL" it.As a performer you can feel when the "Vibe" is right and a good flow is happening between you and your audience. We hit it at this event! I love that! People laughing, gasping, clapping, hooting & hollering... music to an entertainers ears!The woman that hired me I am sure she was stressin' over whether or not this magician she hired was the real deal. After the show she approached me and said, " you were great! I am so glad we hired you, I wish my 14 year old son could have been here!"That is all the praise I really need from my employer!

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Smoked Fish

Been doing a lot of fishing in the last three months, Mostly river fishing as the boat costs so much to put in the water,Parking, oil, gas, gas... but even then, after fishing it takes a lot of time and work to clean the boat and flush the motors.This year (last year actually)was an odd year and that means that it would potentially be a great year for the Humpy's return, or Pink Salmon... and it was. We caught so many Pink Salmon out of the Puyallup river that I have smoked 4-5 Large Racks of fish.I also was shown some fishing spots on the Cowlitz River. Particularly Barrier Dam, and a place about 6 miles down stream called Blue Creek.At Barrier dam we caught some large Silver Salmon and some Black mouth as well.Down River at Blue Creek is prime fishing of Steel head.

Who Are We Performing For?

Several days ago I volunteered to perform for a group of children for their Tiger Cub, Cub Scout Meeting. It was a woman from our church that asked me to do this. I felt a little weird about it. No money was talked about. It wasn't even brought up. I kind of felt like it was expected of me. Why? Because she knows me? Because we attend church together. I hardly know this woman. Sure, she is the assistant pastors wife... but..I spoke about this with a magic friend and he compared it to someone asking their surgeon to come and talk to their group free gratis... A surgeon is a professional and somewhat rare. A magician, hmm, are we the same? A professional, and somewhat rare?Actually a talented, professional magician is rarer than a surgeon, in my opinion...

So I decided I would go ahead and do the "gig... I recently purchased some new clothes. I was excited to "dress up" and go to the school to see these young people. My wife asked how com I put on some of my new clothes, In other words, "why are you getting all dressed up for this?"I thought of Criss Angel, and the IMAGE he projects. I am working on projecting my particular image. I AM SO GLAD I DID!There is just something different about the way people look at you when you carry yourself well. They simply treat you differently.I arrived and found the room. It was about ten minutes before I was introduced. It was fun sitting there knowing everyone was wondering, "what is this guy here for?"!!!Like I said earlier, I was kind of out of sorts doing a free gig. But when I got rolling, it turned out that I think I was blessed more than I blessed them.I started with a magic trick called Acrobatic Knot. This was just to let my audience know that I am a capable magician. Funny but as soon as I showed the white rope, a child yells out, "Oh, I know this one..."That is so typical. I am glad I read Silly Billy's book where he talks about this happening. They don't really know, but have seen something similar, and it empowers them to acknowledge that they do.Then I performed Needle thru balloon, and while I did not show them how my needle thru balloon works, we did put some cellophane tape on theirs so they could do the effect.Jumping Rubber bands were next. We all had a great time as you can see.But again, the serendipity of it is that I was really blessed by taking time from my own life to share my love of magic with others!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A New Mentor!

I have submitted myself to the tutelage of a master magician recently.I am ready to make my magic Elegant. Will I put in the work required? I don't know, I am kind of lazy, and I have many excuses not too. Work, family, T.V. other hobbies etc. etc.This mentor is amazing. He is the greatest sleight of hand man I have ever seen. I am hoping that he will rub off on me by osmosis. Too bad that will not work.It will take hard work, time and effort. He busts my chops every time I am with him. He tells me to "take the boxing gloves off Tim."At first this annoyed and hurt me, I thought I was doing fairly well, (And I am) but by whose standards? My biggest challenge will be to honor his time and effort into my magical life. He has me working on several card tricks that require many different sleights. They are not easy to do and require finesse to make it look as if nothing is taking place. I look forward to the future and my growth as a magi.

The Emperors New Clothes (Stylin'!)

Boeing bribed us employees with 5000 dollars to accept a new contract almost a year before our old contract expired. This was last November, right before December which is Christmas time. I was apposed to the contract offer, but I did not get to vote as I am a "Beck objector" which means I do not agree with the political arm of our union. The way they spend it's members money on political activities. I am still a union member but do not have full rights because I choose to not allow any of my union dues money to go to what our union calls "Non Partisan Political league." However, our union only votes Democrat which is totally liberal and against many of my beliefs.So, any way, we at Boeing got a lump sum payment of $5000.00. I call it a bribe. Our union went behind it's members back to meet secretly with the Boeing counter parts to get this done. Gotta love Unions, just like Democrats, all believing they know what's best for the people but do not want the people's input.So I decided to enjoy the money as best I could. I spent about oh, I don't know 2-3 thousand on Christmas gifts for everyone and then....

I went to Men's Wearhouse and spent a couple of Thousand on new clothes for me!Three suits, a nice overcoat for wearing over the suit in the cold weather, six or seven shirts, a couple pairs of pants, three pairs of dress shoes, eight new ties, and a belt, some socks too.I figured it was time to start looking and acting the part of a magician.I am excited to look nice and to have many colors and styles to choose from. In the past, I only had one suit jacket and a vest to wear, and I changed the "look" by changing my shirt, tie and pants...But now I have an arsenal of clothing. It was quite an experience, one I hope every man gets the opportunity to enjoy!I picked out a purple suit jacket to set myself off a little from the idea that I am wearing a business suit, also I bought a Tuxedo, but I still think I want to get one with tails...I felt a little bad about spending all this money when so many I know are struggling. A friend of mine pointed out that this economy needs people spending too, so I felt a little better, but still, this is something I have never done. It feels good though!

Happy New Year!

As I type these words it is January 24th, are you kidding me!It is already flying by. Magically I just performed a private party at O'Asian Restaurant for a birthday party 0f mostly 25 year olds. I had a wonderful time and so did the audience. It was an interesting venue for me. It started out interesting from the initial phone call,and continued to the end...I received the call on Friday the 20th, and spoke with a young man looking for a magician for his girlfriends 25th b-day party. I asked several questions like, Time of event, place of event, how many people, (25-35) did he want a stand up show or a walk around show?He did not know the difference so wanted clarification. He opted for wanting a stand up platform type show. I gave him a price and he said he'd call me back in about an hour. Three or four hours later I had not heard back from him, and as the event was the next day, I called him. He told me he had two other magicians in mind. I asked him who as I might know them. He told me and to my surprise I knew neither of them. They both came under my price so Lowered my price a little bit.So I got the gig, but since I did not know Duke, I asked a small favor, could he pay me in cash as I normally send out a contract requiring a small fee and payment after the show. He agreed and we were all set!I did my normal stand up set and enjoyed "working" the audience. I am getting more comfortable being able to stop mid trick or in between tricks and step out into the audience to simply converse or remark upon things said and or done by them. This is important as it tailors the show to them and makes it seem unique.I had several opportunities for this and took full advantage of them. The Birthday girl, Joyce got up to use the rest room as I was just going to perform my Linking Rings, I noticed, made a comment like "hey, I didn't leave when you showed up." Got a laugh, and so I waited by stepping out into the "crowd" and performing the Crazy Man's Hand Cuffs in the Round! Since it is a close up trick and requires studious concentration by your audience, of course some people missed it so I performed it again,(Which I was going to do anyway) and then after that I had a young woman stretch a rubber band between her hands and performed it in her hands. This went well, and allowed me to fill enough time for the Birthday girl to arrive back to move forward and continue my performance!After the show, I did a few card tricks close up for some people and at one point the man who hired me, Duke confided in me that he was glad he chose me for the event. (Music to my ears) I told him that I was too! :)He then told me he was scared about the whole thing. I mentioned that I understood that perfectly, and that I take it very seriously when I am hired to do my best all the way thru the whole process.Which brings me to some observations about this craft of magic. If you are going to "sell" yourself as a magician, and an entertainer, you better always do your best and always give 100% of whatever you are capable of bringing to the table. Someone is "choosing" you to entertain his or her friends or clients. You are the "head liner" for their event whatever that may be.It is an awesome responsibility.A little later while I was packing up my equipment to leave, another gentleman approached me and told me he knew all of my tricks except one. (I Highly doubt it) I asked him how this is so, are you a magician? He told me that as a kid he was... But he continued to tell me that I was very entertaining and that is why he doesn't do magic anymore. (So, maybe he did know how many of the effects are worked)I took this as a compliment.This brings up another thought I have about magic. Is it simply okay to know how to do a trick? Or is it equally or even more important to be entertaining with it?I believe that it is more important to be entertaining with an effect, or better yet to be able to marry the two points into a cohesive whole. How do you do this!?Practice until you know the effect inside and out, and then get out and perform it over and over again, making the effect you and you the effect, This is how you will be able to entertain with your magic. This will enable you to ad lib, and stop and pause and go out into your audience and make the show unique.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Great Time With Magic

Saturday arrived and I was a bit anxious...Not for any normal reasons one might think... more in the fact that I had two magic gigs that day and had no "Moto" as my marine son would say.I had a show at a bank in Federal way at 2pm. Mostly for children and I hadn't really done my homework the week before... no moto... later that evening, at 7:30 pm I had a magic gig in a private home. This was an interesting gig as I had done one for someone I work with and he had a friend at that show and this friends mom always has a Halloween party and I was to be the main attraction. Again, for some weird reason I can't put my finger on, I had no motivation. I struggled all week trying to practice the effects I would be performing at these particular shows.At the last minute, like the night before, I pulled out a video of one on my best children's performances and watched it. It was very helpful. I arrived at the bank early, set up, moved some tables and chairs etc. I did not bring out my microphone and speaker set up as it looked like it would be a small turn out... boy was I wrong. seemed everyone showed up about 2:30 and there was about 60 people there. I rocked the house and we had a grand time. The woman that hired me was ecstatic! So was I! Laughter and smiles all around!I handed out several business cards by request afterward and hopefully it will turn into some repeat business for me.I had couple of hours to kill so I went to eat some dinner as I hadn't eaten and knew that I would need some fuel for the evening adventure.I arrived at the peoples home about 45 minutes before "showtime" and set up my table and props. This time I made sure to set up my speaker and microphone... I finished setting up in plenty of time to do some pre show close up magic for people here and there. I finally settled in at a small table with about 8-10 people sitting around finishing up on their meals. It was a nice intimate affair. Wasn't long and the laughter and clapping filled the area and more people ambled on over to see what all the commotion was about.I was holding court. Later as I reflected upon this moment in time I was able to realize that this was probably the first time I was totally relaxed sharing my card magic with so many people. Now there's a good word for me to latch onto... Sharing, Yes, that is it. That is what made the difference this night. I was simply sharing something I love with people. it seemed that no sooner was I about to finish up 'here" and get on with my stand up act, when someone new would arrive and ask me to do something for them. I quickly searched my brain for something that would "top" or at least equal what I had already done. This was rather difficult as I had been doing some fantastic effects already. It seems, especially with the ladies, that if you have one sign a card and give it away as a souvenir, that they all want one.I had done a couple of sets of three, as I like to call them, with an encore effect thrown in. So maybe seven card tricks for various people in this growing, small crowd. I finished with my friend Tom Frank's tricky wallet. It was a great ending to a wonderful beginning of the evening!I then went over to the corner where I had set up shop so to speak. Launched into my stand up show and rocked the house. The show lasted almost an hour and afterwards, as I was sort of cleaning up and tearing down, several young people in their twenties grabbed me and i did some coin magic for them. I think by this time I could have told them the sun and moon had traded places and they would have believed me. So my coin 'set' which is a constant work in progress, and which I do not share with many was pretty darn good. I had them laughing and enjoying and believing... I rocked !